UN rights council seeks greater monitoring of Yemen abuses

GENEVA – The Human Rights Council has called for greater U.N. monitoring of rights abuses in war-torn Yemen, but overlooked calls for an independent probe of abuses amid airstrikes by a Saudi-led, Western-backed coalition blamed for the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

The 47-member council approved by consensus a resolution brought by Arab states that included late revisions Thursday, after the European Union floated a rival text. The EU text was withdrawn when the Arab draft was amended.

The resolution asks the U.N. rights office to deploy more staff to Yemen to investigate abuses and "complement" a national rights commission that has been criticized for incomplete, biased conclusions.

Some rights advocates said the original Arab text would have consigned U.N. staffers to inacceptable and unworkable advisory roles to the national commission.